Cowboy mounted shooting has become one of the fastest growing equestrian sports in the country. Blending such disciplines as reining, barrel racing, and horsemanship, the sport of mounted shooting requires teamwork between contestant and horse. Inflated balloons are mounted as targets on top of bases of various sorts, conventionally traffic cones or 55-gallon drums. Using two .45 caliber revolvers and blank ammunition, each contestant rides through the course and shoots at the balloons; the hot powder from the gun bursts the balloons when a shot is aimed properly. The contestant tries to accurately shoot 10 balloon targets set in one of over 75 various patterns on a course while controlling his or her horses' speed and direction. Scores are based on how many balloons were successfully burst and the time it took to complete the course. The sport has over 60 courses of varying difficulties.
After each competitor has completed the course, human volunteers run onto the course and replace the burst balloons on the bases. There is significant time and effort involved to take a balloon to each of the bases and attach it prior to each contestant's run. One of the limitations for the number of contestants who can compete in one day is the time required to set the balloons on the barrels between the contestants. Another consideration is the safety of the balloon setters, who need to clear the course before a racing horse takes to the course. It would be desirable to be able to quickly replace all the burst balloons between contestants. It would also be desirable to replace the balloons without having people run onto the course between contestants.
In addition to cowboy mounted shooting, many other events need to have a large number of balloons inflated. Conventionally, to inflate a large number of balloons, the lip of each balloon is manually seated over a nozzle of a pressurized gas source and held in place by hand until the balloon is full. Then the balloon is removed and a knot tied in its neck to seal the balloon. It can be tricky to seat the lip of the limp, uninflated balloon properly over the nozzle. This causes some inefficiency as it becomes necessary to re-seat balloons before they are inflated. It would be desirable to provide an automated feeding mechanism for inflating balloons.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a device that enables balloons to be quickly replaced on the bases for cowboy mounted shooting. It is another object to place balloons on courses without having to have people run on the course. It is a further object of this invention to provide an automated feeding mechanism for inflating balloons.